


Hearts & Fists - The First Date

by RavenT2



Series: Street Fighter - Heart & Fists [2]
Category: Street Fighter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Humor, One-Shot, Romance, Street Fighter - Heart & Fists
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:34:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29877111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenT2/pseuds/RavenT2
Summary: Ken recounts to Guile the tale of Ryu and Chun-Li’s first official date. What could have taken place that even has Guile rolling in his chair? Set in the “Hearts & Fists” universe. One-Shot. (Repost from my other fanfic site.)
Relationships: Chun-Li/Ryu (Street Fighter), Guile & Ken Masters, Ken Masters & Ryu (Street Fighter)
Series: Street Fighter - Heart & Fists [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2186022
Comments: 1





	Hearts & Fists - The First Date

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I first posted this story back on 12/22/2012.
> 
> Also, I need to add a disclaimer. Chun-Li's daughter's name is Mei in my series because when I first started this story, she had no canon name. However, as of "Street Fighter V", she was given the name Li-Fen and given a backstory. But, I will keep her as an OC with the name I gave her. And, to be fair, I won't list Li-Fen as a character since Mei is my own OC. Thanks for your time. Enjoy!

** Hearts & Fists – The First Date **

**_Los Angeles, California._ **

Ken Masters was sitting in a restaurant at a booth by the window, exhausted and drained but thankful the tournament he was just in was over. A few minutes later, Ken’s brother-in-law, Captain Guile, walked in.

Ken waved at Guile as he walked in, “Hey!”

Guile grinned and walked over. As he sat down, he greeted, “Hey. How are ya, Ken?”

“I’m doin’ good. You?”

“Doing just fine.” Guile let out an exasperated sigh, “Long day but… doing okay. How was the tournament?”

“Good. I won.”

Guile laughed. “That’s ‘cause I wasn’t there. Or Ryu.”

Ken laughed.

The waitress came up and took their drink orders, then leaving the menus with the fighters.

“Speaking of which, how is our favorite Japanese fighter?” Guile asked.

Ken smiled. “Doing great, actually. Still living, and very much in love, with the strongest woman in the world.”

While looking at the menu, Guile shook his head, “I still can’t believe that. Ryu actually living with Chun-Li.”

“I know.” Ken started inspecting his menu, “But that whole business with Guerrilla really made them see what was important to them and what they were missing in their lives.” He chuckled, “Hard to believe, right?”

Guile looked up. “Hard to believe, nothing. I owe you a car.”

Ken looked up at him, curious and chuckling, “What are you talking about?”

Guile set his menu down and stared at Ken, “When you told me about this, I said to myself there’s no way you were telling the truth.” Ken laughed as Guile continued, “I said, out loud, ‘if Ryu gave up travelling to live with Chun-Li because they are in love with each other, I’ll buy Ken a car.’”

Ken let out a few more chuckles and shook his head. “Save your cash. This whole thing threw us all for a loop. I still have days where _I_ don’t believe it. And Eliza keeps making me prove it with pictures.”

Guile sat back in disbelief. “How long has it been?”

Ken lowered his menu, and stared at the ceiling, contemplatively. “Umm… about… three? Yeah, three months.”

Guile looked back at the menu. “Wow.”

Ken smirked as he was about to ask a question that he had been waiting to ask Guile, if for no other reason than to see his reaction. “You wanna hear the story of their first date?”

Guile, immediately, looked up and, with much enthusiasm, said, “Yes. Yes, yes, yes, YES! Why would you even ask--of course, I wanna hear that! Why haven’t you started yet?”

Ken laughed. He had never heard such a tone from Guile before and it made this even better. “Alright, alright! Settle down, Captain.”

Guile leaned forward, anxiously awaiting the beginning of this story.

Ken let out a content sigh, gathering his thoughts together, “Now… here’s what happened… it all started about a week into them living together…”

* * *

**_Hangzhou, China. About Three Months Ago._ **

Ryu stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom in Chun-Li’s home, taking deep, steadied breaths. After calling Ken for advice and reassurance, Ryu’s next course of action seemed more impossible than beating Akuma with both arms tied behind his back. Nevertheless, Ryu was going to do it. He had to. The most impossible task in the world but he had to get it right.

He had to ask Chun-Li out on a date.

He took a few more deep breaths, trying to get himself ready to go do what he had to. He stared into his eyes in the mirror. “You can do this. You can do this.”

Once he got himself together, he nodded and walked for the door. He opened it to find Mei standing there, catching him off guard.

He yelped. He took a few breaths. “Mei? Why are you standing there?”

“Lookin’ for you,” Mei answered.

“Why?”

“Mommy wanted to know if you were hungry. She made lunch.”

“Uhh… sure. Tell her I’ll be right down.”

“Okay!” Mei started to run off. Then she ran back. “Are you okay, Mr. Ryu?”

“Oh, yeah, sure!” Ryu cleared his throat. “Just… a little jumpy, I guess.”

She shrugged, “Oh, okay.”

Mei went off while Ryu just sighed. He couldn’t believe it; he was such a bundle of nerves. Over a woman. But what a woman. Chun-Li was definitely worth being a bundle of nerves over. Still, Ryu was so very grateful Ken wasn’t there to see that. If Ken had been there, Ryu would never, _ever_ hear the end of it.

After gathering himself again, Ryu headed downstairs to the kitchen. He walked in to see the woman he is in love with, the strongest, and, to him, the most beautiful woman in the world, handing a sandwich on a plate to Mei as she sat at the kitchen counter. Chun-Li looked up at Ryu and smiled. For a man whose life was devoted to fighting, Ryu was amazed how Chun-Li’s smile was able to take him completely out of his headspace.

“Hey,” Chun-Li greeted.

“Hey,” Ryu replied.

Mei sat in her chair, just kicking her feet as Ryu and Chun-Li looked at each other. It made Mei happy to see Chun-Li smiling so much lately. And Mei found Ryu to be a pretty cool guy. Plus, he did save her life, after all.

Chun-Li took notice Ryu seemed a bit uneasy today. She knew that adjusting to this living situation would take some getting used to for everyone. But he seemed far different right now.

“Ryu?” Chun-Li asked. “You okay?”

“Uhh… yeah,” Ryu managed to say. “I, umm… have something to ask you.”

“What is it?”

He took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes. “Would you… like to… go out… on date… with me?”

The second those words were spoken, Chun-Li could’ve been knocked over by a breeze. Her mouth nearly fell open in surprise. She had to do a quick mental checklist.

Did Ryu, in fact, ask her out on a date?

She realized he did.

Ryu asked her out.

He actually asked her out.

She smiled. How could she not? “I’d love to.”

Expecting the worse, which for him would be her laughing at him, Ryu almost missed Chun-Li’s response. Once he realized he thought he heard her answer with an affirmative, Ryu opened one eye and looked at her. “Sorry. Did you say yes?”

Chun-Li nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

Ryu opened both eyes and stared blinking rapidly. “Oh!” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh.” He cleared his throat, “Um… alright then.”

Chun-Li and Mei giggled. Ryu smiled as he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

“So, when are we going?” Chun-Li asked.

“Umm… tomorrow night,” Ryu said, timidly. “If that’s okay.”

Chun-Li simply held her smile. “Sounds good.” She winked at him. “I can’t wait.”

Another gesture. So small, so miniscule. And Ryu’s legs became noodles while his feet turned to lead. He had to get used to that.

* * *

The following night, Ryu was back in front of a mirror, wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt, black pants, and black vest. He wasn’t wearing tie; he was nervous enough without adding that to the mix, plus he had no idea how to tie one. He looked at himself in the mirror, unaccustomed to the look. All of the clothes were courtesy of Ken. In fact, Ken provided Ryu with an entire closet-worth of clothes.

When Ryu asked him why he bought so many clothes, Ken’s reply was simply: “If you’re actually going to do this with Chun-Li, dude, I’ll buy _whatever_ you need!”

Ken went on to tell Ryu the clothes were just because he knew Ryu would need them.

Once he was sure everything was in the right place, Ryu walked downstairs where Mei was sitting on the couch, smiling.

“Wow, Mr. Ryu,” Mei said, holding a camera. “You look nice.”

“Thank you, Mei,” Ryu bowed.

They heard something moving upstairs, figuring it was Chun-Li coming down. Ryu stood at complete attention. As Chun-Li was coming down the stairs, Ryu could, at first, only see the dark blue high heels and immediately he couldn’t speak. In Ryu’s mind, Chun-Li was moving in, beautifully, slow motion and he could see her beautiful attire. She was wearing a blue Chinese-style long dress with sakura flower patterns on it, carrying a dark blue purse in her hand. She had her hair done its usual style, and Ryu even noticed the red make-up she usually applied around her eyes.

Ryu didn’t know it, but his mouth was ajar. He had never seen anyone so beautiful.

“You’re so pretty, mommy,” Mei said, happily.

“Thank you, Mei.” Chun-Li took notice of Ryu’s gaze and blushed. “You… you like it?”

Ryu, finally, remembered how to speak. “Yeah… very much.”

She smiled. “Thank you. You look very handsome yourself.”

He blushed a little and looked down at his attire. “Ken… sent these. Wasn’t sure how I looked.”

She walked up to him and stood directly in front of him, examining his look. It was incredible. She’d seen him shirtless any number of times but him nearly in a suit was enough to take her breath away. Even without a tie, the look just worked for him.

“I think,” Chun-Li said, “you look… amazing.”

She kissed him. That was one way to calm him down. But it was more that she couldn’t help herself. He did look really good.

They broke the kiss to look at Mei smiling at them both.

“Picture time!” Mei shouted.

They stood by the door while Mei lined up the picture. Ryu stood behind Chun-Li and put his arms around her waist, locking his fingers together in front of her. She smiled and placed both hands on top of his. They looked like they were going to prom. Mei took the picture and looked at it on the camera.

It was a photo no one would soon forget.

Ms. Yu, a woman in her late sixties and Mei’s babysitter for the evening, emerged from the kitchen. She looked at the couple and said, “My goodness, Ms. Li. You’re as beautiful as springtime, indeed.”

Chun-Li giggled. “Thank you, Ms. Yu.”

Yu looked at Ryu. “And, Mr. Ryu… you know? A whole outfit suits you.”

Ryu swallowed hard at the comment. “Umm… thank you.”

Chun-Li giggled then looked at her daughter, “Now, mind Ms. Yu, Mei. Understand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mei answered. “I will.”

Chun-Li looked at her boyfriend, “Shall we go?”

Ryu motioned toward the door then opened it for her. Chun-Li was impressed. She wasn’t aware Ryu had such manners, but it was definitely a plus. She walked past him, softly dragging her finger underneath his chin.

He breathed out slowly and thought, ‘ _Wow, this is woman amazing._ ’

Mei looked at the camera and smiled. She looked at her babysitter. “Ms Yu?”

“Yes, dear?” Yu replied.

“I need to e-mail this to Mr. Ken right now!”

They both dashed for the computer.

* * *

The couple went downtown to a restaurant called the Golden Lion. It had been well-received by critics and just within Ryu’s current price range. That was another issue that was weighing on Ryu’s mind, but he didn’t worry about that now.

Not tonight.

All his thoughts were on the beauty on his arm. Ryu never thought he’d be one of those men who’d say he was the luckiest guy alive because of a woman. But tonight, and ever since this relationship started, he realized he is the luckiest guy alive.

Chun-Li mirrored that when thinking of Ryu. She knew all this would be a challenge, but she couldn’t believe how well it was starting off. Chun-Li knew Ryu would try his best to make everything between them work because that was just his personality. But to ask her out, get dressed up for it, and even pay, made her feel like she hit the lottery.

They sat down at the restaurant, finding it to be a typical nice date spot. There were different fixtures of gold lions, the lighting was soft, and there was piano music playing quietly in the whole restaurant. With such ambience, Chun-Li took a long, loving stare at Ryu. Where once he would find that uncomfortable, he had never known of a more welcome sight. The beautiful, brown eyes of Chun-Li and she was gazing at him. Ryu couldn’t describe the feeling, but he wanted it, the look in her eyes for him, and her for the rest of his life.

The dinner went beautifully. They made small talk and ate and were a genuine couple. Everything was going well, something Ryu was very grateful for. The last thing he wanted to do was screw up or doing something horribly embarrassing.

Unfortunately, things could only go so right.

Deciding to go walking for a bit, Ryu and Chun-Li started to get up from their table. Just as he pushed his chair out, Ryu’s chair leg accidently crossed the path of a waiter, who just happened to be carrying a tray of wine glasses for another table. The chair entered the waiter’s path at the right moment to catch his leg, knocking him over and sending his whole platter of drinks crashing to the ground.

After Ryu saw the damage he caused, he closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘ _Why,_ ’ he thought. He opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him. He couldn’t bear to look over at Chun-Li, who knew how bad he must’ve felt.

Ryu lowered his hand, “Umm…” He looked at all the patrons in the restaurant and the waiter. He hesitated for a second, “…sorry.”

* * *

**_Los Angeles, California. Present Day._ **

Guile sat with his mouth agape, holding his fork and knife in his hands. Setting his utensils down on his place, he blinked a couple of times to get his bearings back. This story was fantastic. “Tell me you’re joking,” Guile said.

Ken chuckled, “If I’m lying, I’m dying.”

“He actually…”

“Yep.”

After pausing for a minute, Guile burst into laughter. Ken almost forgot how funny this story was until Guile started laughing, so he joined in. It was so loud that many of the restaurant patrons started gawking at the fighters’ table. Neither man cared. This was too hilarious not to have an all-out laugh at.

“Oh,” Guile breathed out. “Poor Ryu! Guy can’t catch a break!”

“But wait!” Ken smiled bigger. “It gets better!”

“Oh, I was _hoping_ it would!”

* * *

**_Hangzhou, China. About Three Months Ago._ **

Ryu and Chun-Li just left the Golden Lion. Ryu had his hands in his pockets while Chun-Li was holding on to his arm. Ryu had a forlorn look on his face with his head bowed while Chun-Li was smiling.

“Cheer up, Ryu!” Chun-Li rubbed his arm. “I told you it’s fine!”

Ryu sighed. “I’m just… really sorry!”

“Stop worrying. It was an accident! Those things happen. I didn’t mind paying for that.”

He groaned. “That made it worse! I was just trying to treat you to something nice.” He sighed, “Even screwed that up…”

She saw how much this was bothering him. And it didn’t surprise her one bit. He really wanted to make a good impression. That much was clear. He was doing everything to make this a good night for her. And that, alone, meant a lot to her. She knew could and would bring him out of this.

“Really?” Chun-Li asked. “You screwed up? Exactly how many girls have you gone out on dates with?”

Ryu shrugged, “None.”

“How many have you even attempted or _thought_ about asking out?”

“Besides you?”

She nodded.

“Well… none.” He was a little confused about her line of questions. “But…?”

“And how many times have been in a nice restaurant?”

“Only a couple. But others paid then.”

“See?” She was hoping he was starting to relax. “I’m not holding any of this against you, Ryu. You’re trying. Which is more than I can say for plenty of men I’ve dated.” She thought about it, “Actually it’s more than most women can say about a lot of men they’ve dated. Huh. Oh, well.”

He sighed. He appreciated her being so understanding. But he couldn’t help what he was feeling. “I just wanted to do something right.”

She stopped walking, causing him to stop, and she stared at him. “You showing up at my house so we can even attempt to work on this…” she smiled, “…on _us_ … counts as doing something right. More than something right.”

He smiled. “Thanks.”

She nodded. Suddenly, she tugged on his arm. “Come on, come on!”

“What?”

“Just come on! I want to show you something.”

He chuckled, “Okay, okay! I’m coming.”

Chun-Li brought Ryu went to a nearby park, standing on a small bridge, staring at the small river running underneath. The park was spacious and calm. A gathering of fireflies lit up in the darker shadows of the trees and bushes. With the small number of people nearby, it seemed like Chun-Li and Ryu had the park all to themselves.

“It’s nice here,” Ryu pointed out.

“I like to think so,” Chun-Li agreed. “It’s why I wanted you to see it. I like to come here, unwind, and get my mind off of everything.”

“I can see why.”

They were quiet for a long time, enjoying each other’s company.

“Do you know the closest we’ve ever come to doing anything like this was when we were looking for that guy who knew about Guerrilla?” Chun-Li asked.

“London. Markway.” Ryu smiled. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I had to resist not leaning on you that whole time in the park.”

He looked at her. “No reason you can’t now.”

She smiled. Then rested her head on his arm. He went back to looking at the body of water running beneath them. Chun-Li started to let her mind drift off, just enjoying this amazing moment. Ryu was thinking the same.

Slowly, however, for some reason, she started to think about all Ryu was doing for her. All of it was just for her. And, honestly, it worried her. Maybe, he was doing all this for her and not for him. It bothered her. On a small level, it scared her. She had to know.

“Ryu?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he replied.

“Do you…” she paused, “feel obligated… to stay here… because of… me admitting how I feel?”

He looked down at her. “Not at all. I’m here… because I want to be.”

She smiled. That was enough right there.

He looked back at the river. “I’ve traveled, fought, learned, but… even with all that… it always felt like there was something in my life that was missing. Funny thing was… it always felt like it was close, but I could never put my finger on it.” He smiled, “But when you called me and the whole Neo-Shadaloo problem started… I thought I was missing the adventure and the fun and the challenge.” He looked back at her. “Until that night in Tokyo.”

She smiled. She remembered it well. It was one thing that, despite everything, she was very relieved, and grateful, happened.

“When you admitted to me how you felt… it was like… it was like everything made sense. That’s what I’ve been missing. _You_ are what I’ve been missing.”

He stood up straight and looked her in the eyes.

“I don’t want to miss it anymore.”

“I feel…” she whispered, “the same… way.”

They kissed. Chun-Li couldn’t have come with a more perfect resolution to her dilemma if she had written out herself.

A scream echoed through the park, somewhere near the couple. They broke off the kiss to see a young girl, in her mid-twenties, running for her life. She collapsed at their feet.

“Help me!” she, frantically, screamed. “Help me, please!”

Ryu and Chun-Li looked up to see group of seven men, wearing leather jackets, running after the girl. They stopped just short of the bridge.

One of the gang members stepped forward. “Look, you two…” He pointed at Ryu and Chun-Li, “…get lost. That girl is our property.”

That statement made both of them straighten up.

“Property, huh?” Chun-Li stepped away from Ryu and walked to the edge of the bridge, creating a barrier between the gang and the girl while Ryu walked right behind Chun-Li, forming second barrier for the girl. “Last I checked… slavery was illegal.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” The gang member approached to put his hand on Chun-Li, “Just get out…” he put his hand on Chun-Li’s shoulder.

Physical contact.

Any movement made now was self-defense.

That was all the invitation Chun-Li needed.

She grabbed the gang member’s wrist, spun underneath his arm, and, with her palm, broke the man’s forearm in one easy blow.

He screamed out loud as he fell over, clutching his shattered ligament. The other thugs ran up to Chun-Li, but Ryu jumped directly overhead and nailed three of them with a split kick before punching another, then kicking the next in the chin. He landed and performed a sweep kick to the last thug, taking out his legs from underneath him. Ryu got back to his feet and readied for the hooligans to get back up. Two of them did and, immediately, ran away. One of the guys Ryu split-kicked drew a knife, but Chun-Li grabbed the thug’s arm and kicked him so hard in the chest, it took all the wind out of him and made him feel as though he were paralyzed. The thug fell over and clutched at his chest, crying with actual tears.

The young girl was amazed at what she just witnessed.

Chun-Li walked over to the man, whose arm she broke, and stepped on his chest, grinding her heel in his chest. “Now, listen here!”

The man wanted to scream but he thought it best be silent right now, no matter how much it hurt.

“I was enjoying a perfectly, beautiful moment with my boyfriend when you and your goons interrupted. Now, first, you’re going to apologize to this girl, then to us, then you’re going to turn yourself into the police.” Chun-Li pressed her heel harder for an instant. “ _Apologize!_ ”

The thug cried out, “I’m sorry! I’m SORRY! I AM SO SORRY!”

“Good boy.” Chun-Li removed her foot, “Now, run along and go to the police. And if you don’t… I _will_ know. And I will, I swear… _find_ you.”

As he got up and ran away, clutching his arm, Ryu and Chun-Li looked at the girl.

“Come on, sweetie,” Chun-Li said to her. “Let’s get you to the police station, so you can tell them what they did.”

The girl nodded, “Sure, Miss. Whatever… whatever you say.”

* * *

After escorting the girl to the police station, the couple headed home. When they walked in the house, they found Mei asleep on the couch, and Ms. Yu asleep in the easy chair with her feet up. Ryu walked over and put blankets on both ladies. The couple went into the kitchen and Chun-Li grabbed Ryu and pulled him into a deep, strong kiss. The kiss conveyed a lot: gratitude, appreciation, love. And, neither of them could enough of these.

After the kiss, Ryu caressed Chun-Li’s cheek, “Sorry tonight didn’t go as planned.”

Chun-Li grinned. “I’m not. Life with you… just adds a little more excitement. Well, a _lot_ more. After all… that was most fun first date I’ve ever had.” She thought about it. “That was the most fun date I’ve had, period.”

He smiled. “Think you might want to go on a second one?”

“Just a second one? Oh, you don’t get off that easy.” She then said, lovingly, “You’re taking me… on a lot of dates.”

“I can do that,” he whispered back.

They kissed again.

* * *

**_Los Angeles, California. Present Day._ **

“So, yeah, there ya have it!” Ken said, spreading then lowering his arms for effect.

Guile chuckled. “Wow. Just… wow. Hey, what happened with those guys? The ones from the park.”

“Oh, they all got locked up. Turns out they were part of a gang. Chun-Li helped the police track down the rest of them a couple of days later, and she and Ryu paid them a quick visit. You wouldn’t believe the looks on their faces after they were arrested.”

Guile set his fork down on his plate, having finished his meal. “Yeah.” He chuckled. The whole story was too priceless for words. And it could only happen to them. “Ya know? I’d’ve been surprised if a date with those two _didn’t_ end with a fight of some kind.”

“Same here.”

Guile sat back and folded his arms. “You do know, of course, that this between those two changes everything.”

Ken scoffed, “Duh! I heard a rumor Sakura’s trying to move to China, so Ryu can train her.”

Guile laughed. “Oh, to be a fly on that wall.” A thought occurred to him, “What’s Ryu gonna do for income now? Still fight?”

“Oh, he’s gonna fight…” Ken smiled, slyly, “…training the local police in the area.”

Guile’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Oh. That _is_ smart.”

“Chun-Li’s idea.”

“I can bet.” Guile shook his head and started moving out of the booth. He stood up, “Thanks for keeping me up to date, Ken. For the info, lunch is on me.” He left money on the table.

“Thanks.”

Guile nodded. “Just let me know when the wedding is.”

Ken laughed. “You’re calling it, too?”

“What do you mean ‘too’?”

“I called a few other people, with Cammy’s help, and let them know about this. I just wanted to see the level of disbelief. Anyway, we… kinda set some stakes. Me, Cammy, Dee Jay, Honda, even Sagat have a running pool going.”

“For how much?” Guile asked.

“500 big ones,” Ken answered. “We’re all pitching in a hundred each.”

“The bet?”

“How long it will take for them to get married. Sagat says never. If they go longer than three years without getting hitched, he wins.”

Guile chuckled. “What’s your bet?”

Ken smiled. “I got it pegged at a year.”

Guile thought that timeframe over for a second, taking into consideration Ryu and Chun-Li. Guile smiled. “I’m good with that. Tell everyone I’m in for a hundred.”

Ken gave him a thumbs-up. “You got it.”

Guile nodded, “See ya later, Ken.”

“Adios, Cap,” Ken waved.

Both men parted company and wondered if they would see other next in a social setting, in a fight of some kind, or at Ryu and Chun-Li’s wedding.

The last event had the potential, and high probability, to turn into both of the former.


End file.
